Leighton Buzzard nursery is inviting and homely says Ofsted inspectors

Youngsters and babies have a happy time at an ‘inviting and homely’ Leighton Buzzard nursery, according to its latest report from Ofsted.

Inspector Rachel Small gave the Kiddi Caru day nursery and pre-school a ‘good’ rating in its latest inspection.

She said: “Children benefit from their time spent at this inviting and homely nursery. They engage well in the wide range of exciting activities and resources available to them. For example, children show high levels of interest in the visiting ambulance and paramedics. They keenly explore the ambulance and learn about how they help people. Children enjoy learning about the recovery position and make suggestions of how to help someone who may have hurt their knee. They suggest a 'cold compress' and to 'wrap a bandage' around it. Staff extend their knowledge and understanding with challenging questions, such as what the symbol on a first aid box means. Experiences such as these, help to widen the children's understanding of the world in which they live.”

Ms Small said the children's behaviour was positive and they were friendly and kind to each other.

"Babies and children demonstrate their attachments to staff as they seek them out for cuddles and reassurance,” she said. “Babies are curious towards visitors as they make their way over to meet them. Their smiley faces towards visitors demonstrate that babies feel safe and secure in the nursery environment.

Managers were praised for working alongside staff to ensure that there is a shared understanding of the curriculum areas. Key areas of the curriculum include building children's attachments with staff, developing resilience to challenges and independence.

“Activities prepare children for future challenges such as transitioning through the nursery and on to school. As a result, children make good progress in all areas of learning,” said Ms Small.

Children thoroughly enjoy their outdoor play in the garden. The report states that “babies and young children enjoy outdoor play where they practise their physical skills, such as crawling and walking. Older children have large spaces to develop their coordination, balance and climbing skills. They enjoy the natural elements of the garden where they watch insects in the wildflowers. Children are immersed in their role play as they make marks on white boards.”

She found partnerships with parents are effective. Parents report that their children are 'always proud to tell us about what they have done at nursery'. They appreciate the regular communication with their child's key person and feel well informed about their developmental progress. They say the settling-in process and transition times when children move through the nursery are well managed by the friendly staff and managers.

To improve, the inspector advised staff should consider the impact of the extended use of dummies on babies' emerging speech so that they have lots of opportunities to babble and develop their language skills.

Kiddi Caru Day Nursery’s manager, Hollie Stokes, said “I am extremely proud of all of my team and the journey we have come on together over the past two years. The nursery growth and development has been a huge achievement. All of the children and staff had an amazing day as we do each and every day, we were all excited to be able to share this with the inspector.”